


Dangerous

by ClaireofAppalachia



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Mass Effect AU, Prison AU, Shrios, Thane is a little darker in this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 02:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14991233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireofAppalachia/pseuds/ClaireofAppalachia
Summary: In this Mass Effect AU Commander Shepard was reassigned after her survival on Akuze and a certain Drell surrendered to the authorities after completing his mission of avenging the brutal killing of his wife. What will happen when the two fatefully meet on a prison ship holding the most dangerous criminals civilizations have to offer?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So I've had this idea brewing in my head since last summer (when I actually began writing it). I decided it's finally time to publish it and see what y'all think! I really wanted to explore a darker Thane, one who is comfortable with (and might even enjoy) his job, and one who is angry. Let me know what you think!

It was her first day on the prison ship. This big, stupid, smelly, hell-hole filled with scum. Ugh. Why they’d pick this place to reassign her was completely beyond her. They’d given her a shiny medal (for not dying of all things), a pat on the back and then they’d sent her off here to be a _guard_.

She sighed and rolled her shoulders. The guard hard-suit was different than her old N7 gear. Too tight at the joints and an itchy under layer, but she’d make due. She cracked her neck and set herself. Better to give off a wave of confidence than of nervousness. She strode into the Head Warden’s office, paying no mind to the stares of the other guards and secretaries around her.

The Warden was a small man with a balding head and growing gut. He wasn’t an enforcer by any means. His title may as well have been “Head Bureaucrat” for all the paper work he pushed. It was he who walked the line of maintaining relationships between the Alliance, the Turian armies, the Illuminated Primacy, etc. He glanced up from a data-pad and gestured for her to sit in front of his desk.

She did so, taking note of the clutter and paperweights that littered his space. There was also the corner of a Fornax magazine poking out from under a hastily moved stack of Alliance files. Typical.

“Commander Shepard, we are beyond honored to have you assigned to our station,” he looked at her dead on, not-so-subtly taking in her appearance. “Due to your impressive… skills, you’ve been assigned to the maximum security area of the ship. To one prisoner in specific, actually.”

She gave him a confused look, her eyebrow quirking up in response. She knew the people here were the worst of the worst, but what sort of prisoner required a personal guard? Upon seeing her confusion the Warden gave a slight chuckle.

“This prisoner is not some petty criminal. Criminal might be too weak of a word for what he is. Come, I’ll elaborate on the way to his cell.” He stood and waddled his way around the desk, graciously holding the door for her. _The better to see your ass wiggle, my dear._ She almost snickered out loud at that. She was used to men like him. Only usually they weren’t her boss and usually she could knock them in the teeth. Oh well.

They made their way down the corridors of prisoners, all behind thick glass. As if that wasn’t enough, some of them had bars across them as well. Probably more for show than anything. As they weaved down the stations immense layers, she noticed they were passing fewer cells. They must belong to the prisoners too dangerous to interact with their comrades.

“The man you are guarding is an assassin, to put it simply. He’s a Drell, so he belonged to the Hanar’s Illuminated Primacy. Only they denounced him when it was discovered that he’d… breached the terms of the Drell/Hanar Compact.”

“How’d he do that? I thought the Hanar needed skilled people to do their dirty work.” The Warden sighed, running a chubby hand over his poor comb-over.

“The people he murdered were one: not Hanar targets, he killed them of his own ‘free will.’ Two: they were Batarians. And the Hanar are desperately trying to put down any negative interactions between them and their client species.” Ah. Batarians. She’d seen more than her fair share of them on Mindoir.

“The assassin’s name is Thane Krios. And chances are that if you were a black market kingpin, which I’m assuming you’re not, you’d be shitting yourself right now. Yes he is that bad. Krios’ total death count is unknown, but it’s… up there. He’s the best in the Galaxy, I’ll give him that. You can read more in this dossier.” He handed her a thick file as they stopped in front of a closed off area.

“Your security must be something else if he hasn’t gotten out yet…” she observed the heavy door that blocked their path, a retinal scanner present just right of the entrance.

“He hasn’t tried to get out yet. Not that we know of at least. Now you’ve been added into the system already, let’s see that it works.”

She placed her eye in front of the machine, her mind wandering. Not tried to escape? What sort of top-tier criminal wouldn’t at least try to get his way out of a prison, especially if he was confident in his abilities?

The machine beeped and they entered into a dark hallway. One door at the end, and the one they came in through. There were no windows, just small air vents and a metal bench. Homey.

“The current guards shift doesn’t end for another hour. Plenty of time for you to get acquainted with him,” he gestured towards the dossier before turning to leave. “And please, Commander Shepard, if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask me.” He gave her a lecherous smile before leaving the hallway. _Ugh._

She sat on the (uncomfortable) bench and opened the folder and began reading its contents.

“ _Prisoner 2174: Thane Krios. Species: Drell. Height: 1.88 meters (Earth metric system). Weight: 77.11 Kg. (Earth metric system). Skin color: Light green with patches of black scales. Eye color: Black sclera with dark green iris’. Security level: Maximum. Prisoner is considered extremely dangerous, do not engage under any circumstances._ ”

“Well that’s just lovely…” she muttered under her breath as she flipped to the next page. His mug-shots were printed in prominent colors, all angles covered. She’d be lying if she said there wasn’t something striking about him. No matter, she wouldn’t be swayed by appearances.

_Reason for imprisonment: Serial Murder. Known number of victims killed is 20, most Batarian. 1 st degree murder in all cases. Other victims (Compact assassinations or otherwise) are unknown._

She closed the folder and inhaled. At least he seemed interesting. She’d never met a Drell before, only heard of the struggles that plagued their home planet. She knew the Hanar had saved who they could, flying several hundred thousand Drell off Rakhana to Kahje. And they apparently had an agreement called The Compact.

She ruminated on her thoughts until she heard the other door creak open from the cell-end of the hallway. A young man passed through the door, jumping a bit when he saw her.

“Commander Shepard, ma’am!” He stood at attention in front of her, though he was hardly able to cover the smile on his face.

“And you are…?” she asked holding out her hand for him to shake. He grabbed it almost immediately, giving it a firm and vigorous shake.

“Officer Hobbs, ma’am! It’s truly an honor to meet you, Commander!”

“Good to meet you, Officer.” She smiled at him and she could’ve sworn his eyes sparkled. “Any tips on him?” She said, gesturing to the closed door to the cell. Hobbs’ face soured.

“Yes, ma’am. He’s… he doesn’t look like what you’d think an assassin would look like, but don’t let that fool you. A few prisoners tried to start a fight with him once. I think they claimed he’d killed some people they knew? Either way… he broke several of their necks and one’s back. All with his bare hands. And then there was that guard… a Batarian named Baz’nok. He tried to start shi- uh, a fight with Krios too. It… it wasn’t pretty.” Hobbs shifted, clearly uncomfortable with remembering the death of a colleague.

She let out a whistle and placed her hands upon her hips. “Well then. Wish me luck I suppose.” She smiled again at the guard whose eyes brightened under her attention.

“Definitely, Commander! I’m in the guard communications channel if you need any help or more advice!” He gave her a brief nod before heading back towards the exit.

Shepard let out a sigh when she heard the door behind her close. She steeled herself and opened the door leading to Thane Krios’ cell.


	2. Chapter 2

The room was split halfway down the middle by a wall of thick glass. Shepard’s eyes went to Krios immediately. He was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. His eyes were closed and his legs were crossed. Meditating? He didn’t even stir at her arrival.

Biotic dampeners lined the room, sapping her implants. So he was a biotic too, then. Comforting.

She didn’t say anything as she approached a small desk facing the cell. A few scattered datapads lay on it, as did a lamp. Other than that, it was empty. She sat in the office chair and continued to scan the room.

Krios’ cell was relatively empty. A bed, neatly made up. Small restroom area obscured with a near opaque curtain. Vents too small to even fit a hand in. A set of drawers and that was it.

She took a closer look her charge. He wore the typical orange jumpsuit, but the top half was tied around his waist, leaving him shirtless. He wore no shoes. And he still didn’t seem to notice her.

At least 10 minutes of her watching him had passed before he finally spoke up.

“So you’re the new one then?”

She practically jumped, then scolded herself for it. His voice was… not what she’d imagine.

“Yes, I am.”

“Hmm. You are not like the other guards. Human, a soldier. Alliance, then?”

“How did you-?”

“You take heavy, measured steps. You are used to standing in formations, as well as moving in them.”

“Oh yeah, what else can you get from me?” She relaxed her elbows on the desk and rested her head on folded hands. He stood up, turning his dark eyes on her. She smirked, practically challenging him.

“Judging from the scars you carry, you have seen combat. You are most likely a higher ranking soldier. Lieutenant or above. Which begs the question, how did you get assigned here?”

“How do you think I got assigned here?” If he was trying to play her, she would show him she could play back. She leaned back in the chair, doing her best to project an air of casualty.

“Punishment would be my first guess. Dishonorable Discharge.” She smiled.

“Not even close.”

“And I suspect you are not going to tell me?”

“Nope.” 

“Hm.” He walked away from her, following the line of his cell barrier.

“I’m Commander Shepard. Alliance N7 Marine.” She sat forward in her chair and picked up one of her datapads from the desk.

“I’ve heard of the N7s. Years of training in combat and survival.” She snorted.

“Yeah, to put it simply. And I guess the ‘Galaxy’s best assassin’ has had similar training?”

“To put it simply, yes.” He was standing still now, watching her. She expected some sort of remark to follow, but none did. He continued to watch her for several more minutes before returning to his meditative state on the floor.

When she was sure his eyes had closed, she furrowed her brows and looked at him. He was clever, that much was true. But was he also crazy? Weren’t most serial killers socio or psychopaths? However, he wasn’t a typical killer, he was an assassin. She assumed he didn’t do what he did for fun, but for a paycheck. Those murders since his imprisonment though… maybe he did enjoy it.

And what of the Drell-Hanar Compact? What sort of agreement was it if it required a dying species to work for them in exchange for their lives? How long had he been a part of it? What did they teach the Drell they wanted to be assassins? She could ask him, of course, but she doubted she’d get an honest answer. And knowing how sensitive the Hanar were (to the point of xenophobia), she doubted she’d be able to find the right answers on the extranet. All she knew was that there _was_ an agreement, and that it sounded like slavery to her.

The rest of her hours ticked away slowly. Thane made no movement, apparently lost in his own thoughts, or memories. She seemed to recall hearing something about the Drell ability to remember every moment of their life. She had no idea how they lived with that capability. She figured that it’d overwhelm anyone, and she certainly had moments in her life that she had no desire to remember, let alone remember them perfectly.

Finally the clock on the wall buzzed, relieving her of her duty. She cast him once last look before exiting the room.

“Goodnight, Commander.” She stopped, halfway out the door. Turning back to look at him, she saw his dark eyes on her. She didn’t answer, only walked out of the door, shutting it tight behind her.   

She began her walk to her quarters on auto-pilot until she got into an elevator with an Asari. She was tall, with a sapphire skin-tone and markings that were only a shade lighter than her skin. She smiled warmly at Shepard, holding out her hand.

“Hi, Commander, we all heard you were coming. Cliksasa B’Tonsi, level 3 guard. It’s great to meet you.” Shepard shook her hand and smiled back.

“Great to meet you, too. What kind of people are in that level?” The Asari shrugged.

“Mostly people convicted of things like armed robbery or embezzlement. Crimes involving commerce. It’s usually just known as the ‘money unit’. If you don’t mind my asking, Commander, what level are you on?”

“I don’t exactly have a level. I have one guy, that assassin, Krios.” Cliksasa did a double take, mouth hanging open.

“They assigned _you_ to _him_?! Not that I don’t think you can handle it, but I assumed they’d give you something… more suited to your skills.” Shepard quirked an eyebrow at her.

“My skills?”

“I don’t know, something all your training could cover. Breaking up fights, organizing guard rotations, prisoner discipline measures, that sort of thing.” The elevator dinged, opening into a cafeteria. “Here c’mon, get something to eat and I can explain more.”

Shepard followed her off the elevator, ignoring the looks and whispers that seemed to trail her around. She led her through the line, getting food that surprisingly looked appetizing. They sat at a table close to the window and Cliksasa took a deep breath.

“Okay, so. Has anyone told you about Krios’ past here?”

“There was one guy. Officer Hobbs, I think it was?” Cliksasa laughed.

“Of course it was. Poor kid has something of a crush on you, but you’re right. He had his shift with Krios earlier.”

“So what’s Krios’ deal then, why’s he in solitary?” Shepard asked, taking a tentative bite of her food.

 “Well, it’s like this. Krios is as dangerous as a pissed off Yahg. But he only goes after people who really tick him off. I’m guessing Hobbs told you about the inmates Krios killed?” Shepard nodded, sipping her glass of water.

“So these inmates, two Batarians and two Turians, had a bone to pick with Krios. He’d taken out some of their buddies during his killing spree or something. And seeing as how this was before he was in solitary, they’d cornered him in the prisoner commons. Or he let them think they cornered him. I wasn’t there, but I remember watching the vid footage. It was… brutal.” The Asari shivered a little bit.

“Well that’s… comforting.” Shepard said, feeling her appetite dampen just a bit. “Wasn’t there a guard he killed too?” Cliksasa nodded, quickly swallowing her food.

“Yeah, that was Baz’nok. To be perfectly honest, he was a dick. Always acting like he was your superior or that he was the toughest guy in here. A real tool.” Cliksasa shrugged, taking a breath and several more bites of food. “So anyways, Baz’nok gets it in his head that he’s gonna enact some sort of overdue vengeance on Krios for killing his, and I quote, ‘Fallen brothers.’ So he goes to Krios’ cell one day. He didn’t land a _single_ blow before Krios had him down. He… he took his time killing him too. It wasn’t quick.” The Asari frowned, looking down at her food. “I don’t think even Baz’nok deserved that. The thing is though, when the guards came in, Krios surrendered his weapons and didn’t engage a single guard.”

“Why didn’t they shoot him?” Shepard asked, completely taken in by Cliksasa’s story. She sighed and poked at her food.

“The Hanar didn’t want him dead. They petitioned on his behalf, and it was in the Warden’s political favor to keep him alive, so they did. Nobody messes with him now, not even Baz’nok’s friends.”

“Well then…” Shepard said, leaning back from her picked-over tray. “I’ll be sure not to piss him off.” Cliksasa laughed and began cleaning up.

“That would be smart of you, but I imagine an N7 might be able to take him on.”

“Ha, well, I don’t plan on trying to find out.” She followed Cliksasa to the tray line, then back to the elevator. The ride back up to the living quarters was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. The elevator dinged at floor 70, and Cliksasa climbed off. She stuck her hand in the door, keeping it open for several seconds.

“I know people keep saying this to you, but it’s an honor to have you here, Commander. Ask me any questions you’ve got about the place whenever you need too.”

“Thanks, Cliksasa was it?” The Asari walked off, waving to her while she walked away.

“Just Cliks to my friends!” The door closed and Shepard relaxed, finally alone. Cliksasa (or “Cliks”) was nice enough, but it was too soon for her to trust anyone on the ship.

Her quarters, as it turned out, were actually quite nice. A few floors up with a big room, bathroom with a full tub and shower, and vid monitor. There was even a mini-fridge and microwave. She wondered if any other guards had similar rooms before quickly deciding that wasn’t likely. She didn’t need the special treatment, but she wasn’t going to turn it down. This prison ship was turning out to be more comfortable than any Alliance ship she’d been on. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t rather be on an Alliance ship instead of a ship full of excessively violent criminals.

She unpacked her belongings and quickly got ready for bed. The clock on her omni-tool read only 21:00, but she was tired from her introductory day. She checked the guard shift rotation and saw she was on duty from 10:00 to 16:00. She groaned. Six whole hours of sitting at a desk and watching a guy. The pay was good but was it worth it? She was a soldier, not someone who did a desk job. Maybe she could get herself moved around to a place with more action.

She sighed and clicked the tool off, laying alone in the darkness of the cabin. An orange emergency light cast dark shadows across her, and she closed her eyes. She had no dreams that night.


	3. Chapter 3

Shepard woke up early the next morning, somewhat refreshed and ready for what was sure to be another long day. She showered before changing into a clean under-layer and her hard suit. Leaving her quarters, she made her way down to the cafeteria. It was far busier in the morning than it was at dinner rounds, and she didn’t see Cliks anywhere, so she ate quickly and quietly before picking up the small box that contained the lunch she’d eat while on duty.

She made her way down the deep depths until she reached the long corridor where Krios was being held. She waited for the current on-duty officer to finish up as she sat on the bench, letting her mind wander. Her attention snapped back when she heard the door open.

A tall, human man stepped out and stretched. When he noticed she was there, he gave her what Shepard could only guess was his “suave smile.” She quirked her eyebrow as he reached out his hand to her. She hesitated half a second before taking it.

“Commander Shepard, good to meet you. Officer Madison, but you can call me Alex.” He eyed her up and down and she pulled her hand back to herself.

“Uh huh. Well, Alex, it’s nice to meet you but I should probably go on in.” He frowned, just barely.

“I’m sorry they stuck you with that creep. All watching and no action. And boy would I like to see you in action.” That smile again, as he leaned in closer. She stepped around him, bringing herself closer to the cell.

 _Something tells me Krios isn’t the creep in this situation_ , she thought to herself.

“Unfortunate that I have to go now.” She turned and walked over to the door, ignoring him as completely as she could.

“Hey, I’m on floor 68, room 183, if you ever… need anything.” She could hear the smirk in his voice and choose not to answer as she walked into Krios’ cell.

He was sitting on the floor again, not meditating, but reading something on a data-pad. She debated asking him what he was reading but decided against it, taking her place the desk. She began reading on her own data-pad, both of them sitting in silence for the first two hours.  
She was absolutely bored out of her skull. Why would the Alliance take her and stick her here? They’d said it was to “Give her time recuperate after what happened on Akuze.” It was only a temporary assignment, but she was so bored. Cliks was right, they should have put her somewhere with more action.

“You’re restless.” She turned her attention towards him, and saw him looking at her. She couldn’t discern any real emotion on his face, it was just more of a matter-of-fact statement, she guessed.

“Yeah, and you’re not?” Her answer was grumpy and she crossed her arms.

“Not particularly.” He shrugged. He sat the data-pad down and stood up to walk to the glass.

“You miss the action of the Alliance?” She stared at him. What was his game here? Or was there a game? Was he just asking her a question? Was she reading too much into things?

“I guess, yeah.”

“That is understandable. It’s hard to switch yourself to a desk-job when you’re a soldier.”

“And you know what that’s like, huh?” She leaned forward, watching him.

“You could say that I do, yes.”

“Hm.”

“Are you afraid of me, Commander?”

“What?” The question genuinely caught her off-guard, and she must’ve shown some outward sign of being taken aback because he pressed her further.

“I asked if you were afraid of me.”

“Well, do you think I should be?” He smiled.

“I asked you first.” She returned his smile and got up to walk to the cell wall.

“No. I’m not afraid of you. You can call me a fool because of that if you want, but the fact remains that you’re in there and I’m out here. And besides, I don’t think you’d hurt me if you were out here.”

“And how do you know that?” His face was only inches from hers now, separated though they were.

“Because I haven’t done anything to piss you off, nor do I plan to.”

“Maybe that doesn’t matter to me.”

“Then why didn’t you keep killing guards after you killed those inmates?” Now it was his turn to look taken aback, though it passed quickly.

“The guards were bystanders, they weren’t involved. The inmates, however, they wanted a fight, so I gave it to them.”

“You killed them, actually.” He shrugged, as if it was the most normal thing in the galaxy to be talking about. “You killed a guard too. That Batarian.”

“Yes, I did. And I would again.” Shepard gave a low whistle.

“Got a grudge against Batarians, then?”

“No. Just slavers.” Shepard blinked. Her face blanched and she hoped he wouldn’t see it. It is, however, hard for things to slip by a trained assassin.

“Well, on that we can agree.” She turned and walked over to her desk, picking up a data pad.

“And I suppose you’re not going to tell me why?” He asked. Was it her, or was his voice softer now? No, it must’ve just been the translator.

“Nope. Are you going to tell me why you don’t like them?” She didn’t even glance up, she just stared at the words on the screen as if the secrets of the world were written there.

“No.”

“Well then, Mr. Krios, it seems we’re at an impasse.” She says it as nonchalantly as she can manage, and he doesn’t respond for several minutes.

“It’s ‘Sere’ actually.”

“Beg pardon?” Shepard says, still reading the same three sentences on the tablet, trying to appear as casual as possible.

“The Drell honorific is ‘Sere,’ not ‘Mister.’”

Any other guard might’ve just ignored him, and go on calling him whatever they saw fit but she only shrugged.

“Alright then, Sere Krios.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

The rest of the time ticked by quietly. She read reports on the data-pad in the meantime. Reports of fights being broken up, reports of guards being shanked with some improvised shiv, and she even found a report about a guard/prisoner “liaison” occurring on one of the levels. That one actually made her laugh, causing Thane to give her a curious look, but he made no comment and went back to his meditating.

When her time was finally up she stood and stretched.

“Goodnight, Commander.” He said as she turned to the door, yawning.

“Night.” She walked out of the room, nodded to the guard coming to replace her, and made her way to the elevator.

Her omni-tool dinged while the elevator creaked up the ship.

 _“Hey Commander, a few other guards and I are gonna have a drink at the staff bar on Lvl 65 if you wanna join us._ – Cliks”

Huh. _Might as well_ , she thought. She went to her quarters, changed out of the hard-suit she’d been wearing and into the basic guard uniform. When she was satisfied she looked decent, she climbed back on the elevator and made her way to the bar.

The room was buzzing with conversation, laughter and the general energy of people trying to unwind.

“He took a swing at me with it! Somehow, some way, he’d managed to get this spoon shaped into a shiv! You ever had a pissed off Volus swing for your legs like that?!” Uproarious laughter followed the story a human woman was telling, partially doubled over and flushed from the tale.

“Hey, hey Shepard! Over here!” She turned towards the voice and saw Cliks, perched on the sill of window. She made her way over to the Asari and the small posse of aliens around her.

“Someone get the Commander a beer!” She yelled, patting the spot next to her on the sill. It wasn’t two seconds after she sat before a beer was being passed into her hands, the bottle indicating it was some Salarian brew.

“Well you all seem pretty… relaxed.” Shepard said, tasting the beer. Salarian alcohol was always fairly bitter, but if it was free…

“Hey, you gotta let loose sometime, right?” Cliks said, taking a gulp of what Shepard thought might be ryncol. “So how was your shift with tall, dark, and murderous?”

Shepard snorted, tipping the bottle back till it was almost empty.

“It was fine. He asked if I was afraid of him.”

“And what’d you say?” Cliks asked, nudging her with her shoulder as she faltered from the ryncol intake.

“I said I wasn’t.” Shepard shrugged, and sat her now empty bottle down.

“But are you?” someone else spoke, a Turian with dark red colony markings and a scar that ran almost his entire crest.

“Am I what?” Shepard asked, her attention being captured by the new drink someone handed her. This one was an Asari brandy, much more palatable than a Salarian beer.

“Afraid of him. Are you afraid of Krios?” Shepard furrowed her brows as she took a sip of the smoky brandy.

“No, why should I be? I don’t think he’s getting out any time soon and it seems to me that he only kills people who piss him off, and I haven’t done that so…”

Cliks laughed and threw her arm around Shepard.

 

“See! She’s got more balls than you do, Jorv!” Cliks pointed at a Krogan leaning against the wall, who only shrugged in response.

“Maybe but she doesn’t seem to have a lot of sense.” A chorus of ‘oooohhhss’ followed Jorv’s statement, but Shepard only shrugged.

“Ahh don’t listen to him, he’s only mad because he saw Krios in action once. It scared him shitless but he won’t admit it!” Cliks cackled and shot down the rest of her drink. “He won’t even take anymore shifts supervising him!”

“Well excuse me for wanting my plates to remain intact!” The Krogan shoved his finger in Cliksasa’s direction before the scarred Turian and a Batarian talked him back down.  
Cliks wiped her mouth on the back of her arm before turning to Shepard, the heavy stench of alcohol following her as she moved.

“Lotsa people were scared to take a shift with Krios after that. But the thing is, like you said, he’s not gonna go after you if you don’t piss him off. And besides, you’re an N7 you can take him.”

“Well hopefully I never have to.” Shepard said, leaning back against the window.

“Ehhh you’re going to waste down there. There’s plenty of fights that go on in the commons, it’d be cool to see how an N7 breaks them up.” Cliks said, leaning back against the window and stretching.

“Yeah, I had a guy tell me he’d ‘Love to see me in action,’ earlier. Creep.” Shepard said, feeling the brandy warm her.

“Was it that guy, that tall human with brown hair? Office whatshisname..?” A Turian woman with bright blue markings asked.

“Alex Madison!” Someone else yelled, followed by the Turian woman’s “Yes!”

“Ugh that guy’s a dickbag. He thinks he’s the shit, flirting with every girl on this frater. A real power-trip too. Loves being in charge of other people. A real putz.” A human woman with black hair and a massive tattoo on her neck said, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t let him get to ya, if he ever does anything sick just knock the bastard’s teeth down his throat.” Cliks slurred, sloshing down another drink. Shepard laughed, feeling her own head grow lighter.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll be sure to do that.”

The rest of the evening passed in a blur, and Shepard eventually found herself back in her room. She managed to get herself into the shower before stumbling out and into her bed. Her shift tomorrow didn’t start until 12:00, giving her time to actually sleep in, a luxury.

As she lay in the warm, orange glow of the emergency light, she found her mind drifting back to Krios. What was his story with Batarian slavers? She fell asleep thinking about what she could do to get him to tell her more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! The end was kind of rushed, but I'm happy with the chapter overall! Hopefully I'll be able to write more before school starts again and I'm thrown into my senior project once again lol! Hope y'all enjoyed this~


End file.
